The present disclosure relates to an electric system in an automotive vehicle and more specifically, to an electric load system and method of determining electric loads and adjusting a power output of an engine to compensate for the electric loads.
Electric loads in an automotive vehicle are electrically powered by several power sources such as, a battery, an alternator, or an engine. Activating an electric load creates an output drain on the associated power source. To ensure that the output of the power source remains suitable for its intended use, the power source must be compensated.
To determine how much compensation is required to the affected power source, the electric load (EL) is measured either directly by an electric control unit (ECU) or by an electric load detector (ELD). For example, the electric load generated by an electric power steering unit may be measured directly by the electric control unit (ECU). On the other hand, the electric load generated by electric devices (ED), such as lights, radio, windshield wipers, etc., in the vehicle's electric system may be measured by the electric load detector (ELD). The electric load detector (ELD) measures the electric load from the electric devices ELED and sends this information to the electric control unit (ECU). The electric control unit (ECU) calculates the total electric load ELTOTAL by adding the electric load measured directly by the ECU and the electric load measured by the electric load detector (ELD).
With the addition of more and more electric devices in modern vehicles, however, the electric load measured by the electric load detector (ELD) increases. As the electric load increases a larger and more expensive electric load detector (ELD) is required to measure the increase in the electric load. This in turn increases manufacturing and production costs.